.M3 




. N3 ^ 

Copy 1 



PKOCEEDIJNGS 



NAT^IONAL CONVENTION 



&S(!)sa(i)^a033 03 aa^(3^i?a(i)s? 



UNITED STATES, 



HELD AT THE CITY HALL,, IN THE 



CITY OF WASHINGTON, 



MAY 6, 7, 8, 1840. 



WASHINGTON : . 
r. FORCE, PRINTER 

1840. 






aaaotaoa^a (3©23saai?aaaa 



Stephen Chapin, D. D., President Columbian College. 

Francis S. Key, Esq. 

Peter Force, Esq., Mayor of the City of Washington. 

Thomas Sewall, M. D. 

Benjamin Hallowell, Esq. 

John P. Durbin, D. D., President of Dickinson College. 

A. Dallas Bache, L. L. D., President of Girard College. 



PROCEEDINGS. 



At a meeting of the National Convention of the 
Friends of Education, held pursuant to public notice, 
at the City Hall, Washington, Maj 6, 1840 : On motion 
of the Hon. William Cost Johnson, President A. D. 
Bache was called to the chair. 

The Convention then received the credentials of 
the Delegates in attendance, and was organized by the 
unanimous election of the following officers, viz: — 
President. 

A. D. Bache, President of Girard College, Phila- 
delphia. 

Vice Presidents. 

Hon. Wilson Lumpkix, of Georgia. 

Rev. S. Chapin, D. Z)., President of Columbian 
College. 

Hon. Wm. Cost Johnson, of Maryland. 

John Dawson, Esq., of Madison College, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Secretaries. 

Professor Thomas Sewall, JYI. D., of IVashingtor 
D.C. 
Benjamin Hallo well, of Alexandria, D. C. 

The following were the Delegates in attendance : 
Rev. S. Chapin, ^ 

Prof. Thomas Sewall, M. D. > Columbian College. 
Prof.J. O.B.Chaplin, A. M. ) 



4 

Hon. Wilson Lumpkin, University of Georgia. 

Hon. Daniel Sturgeon, ) ,. ,. ^ ,, „ 

1 , T^ r;. ) Madison Coiies;e, Fa. 

John Dawson, Lsq., ) ^ 

Hon. Wm. L. Storrs, Wesley an University, Middle- 
town, Conn. 
John McLean, N. Y., ) New-Brighton, Beaver County, 
Hon. Thos. Henry, > Pennsylvania. 
Littleton Dennis Teackle, Esq., Somerset County, Md. 
Rev. Dr. Hawley, Washington, D. C. 

_,, * * ' ' f Teachers'' Institute, Washing- 

Chas. H. Nourse, } , r^ r^ 

^ XT o n \ fon, u. C. 

O. N. Stoddart, ) 

F. Gallagher, Esq., Washington Lyceum, Baltimore. 
President A. D. Bache, Delegate from the Controllers 

of the Public Schools of the \st School District, Pa. 

Benjamin Hallowell, ) ., 7 . r 

rr I o • 1 T' } Alexandria Lyceum. 

Hugh bmith, Esq., ) "^ 

George H. Carter, Esq., Wheeling Virginia. 

Peter Force, Esq., Mayor of the City of Washington. 

Rev. Edward Y. Higbee, Netv-York. 

Rev. Mr. Davis, Charlotte Hall, Md. 

Samuel McKenney, Esq., Georgetown, D. C. 

Rev. Frederick W. Boyd, A. M., Athenean Society of 
Maine. 

Dr. S. Maupin, Principal of Richmond Academy, Rich- 
mond, Va. 

Rev. Wm. McLain, Washington, D. C. 

G. W^. Stinson, JVorristown, Pennsylvania. 

Nathan Thorp, ) Franklin Lyceum, Rah way, Neiv- 

Jacob R. Shotwell, ) Jersey. 

Dr. Thomas P. Jones, Washington, D. C. 

Francis S. Key, Washington, D. C. 



Hon. Wm. Cost Johnson, Maryland. 
John Boyle, Esq., IVashingtori, D. C. 
Samuel Whitcomb, Sprins^Jield^ Vermont. 

On motion of Hon. Wm. Cost Johnson : 

Resolved, That those gentlemen, now in the City, 
who feel an interest in the objects of the Convention, 
be requested to leave their names with the Secretary, 
and become members of the Convention. 

On motion. 

Resolved, That a Committee of five be appointed, of 
which the President of the Convention be Chairman, 
to propose subjects for the consideration of this Con- 
vention. 

The following gentlemen were appointed, in accord- 
ance with this Resolution, viz : President A. D. Bache, 
Chairman, Rev. S. Chapin, D. D., Francis S. Key, 
John Dawson, and Benjamin Hallowell. 

On motion. 

Resolved, That when the Convention adjourns, it 
adjourns to meet to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. 

On motion, 

Resolved, That this day's proceedings of the Con- 
vention be published in the two City papers. 

A proposed Memorial to Congress was presented to 
the Convention, and referred to the Committee appoint- 
ed to prepare business. 

The Convention then adjourned till to-morrow. 



Washington, May 7, 1840. 
The Covention met agreeably to adjournment. 
The following gentlemen attended as members of the 



Convention, in addilion to those whose names were 

registered yesterday, viz : — 

John Janney, Esq., Leesburg, Va. 

Rev. Hernnan Norton, Columbus, NfAV- Jersey. 

Samuel M. Janney, Loudoun County, Va. 

Hon. John Edwards, Delegate from Delaivare County 
Lyceum, Pennsylvania. 

S. F. Head ley, Berwick Lyceum, Columbia County, 
Pennsylvania. 

Rev. J. P. Diirbin, President of Dickinson College, 
Pennsylvania. 

George J. Abbott, Teachers^ Institute, Washington, 
D. C. 

Samuel Lawrence, Esq., Lowell, Massachusetts. 

Dr. Harvey Lindsly, Washington, D. C. 

Dr. Henry King, St. Louis, Missouri. 

Hon. Enos Hooke, Madison College, Pennsylvania. 

Hon. Millard Fillmore, Buffalo, N. Y. 

John Howard Payne, New-York. 

Don Mariano Cubi i Soler, Prof. Mod. Lan. Louisi- 
ana College. 

Giles F. Yates, Founder of Schenectady Lyceum, New- 
York. 

Hon. George W. Toland, Philadelphia Lyceum 

Rev. O. B. Brown, Washington, D. C. 

James Gill, Esq., Marysville, Ohio. 

Hon. William Symington, Pennsylvania. 

Hon. Robert Hallowell Gardiner, of Gardiner, Maine. 

Samuel Harrison Smith, Esq., Washington, D. C, 

Robert D. Clarke, Brownsville, Pennsylvania. 

Dr. H. F. Condict, Washington, D. C. 

Robert F. Stanton, Natchez, Mississippi. 



Henry H. Dent, Esq., ^ 

Dr. Frederic Hal!, > Washington, D. C. 

Rev. John Davis, ' 

James McVean, Georgetown^ D. C. 

E. Putnam, Esq., Milton, N. H. 

The Committee appointed to propose subjects for the 
consideration of the Convention reported, through their 
Chairman, a series of Resolutions, which were elo- 
quently supported by Francis S. Key, Esq., the Rev. 
S. Chapin, the Rev. J. P. DurbiiN, and several other 
gentlemen ; were amended, the blanks filled, and adopt- 
ed to read as follows, viz : 

1. Resolved, That the Committee who reported these 
resolutions be requested to invite members from the dif- 
ferent delegations in Congress to address the Conven- 
tion, at a session to be held on Saturday evening, at eight 
o'clock, in relation to the systems and progress of pub- 
lic instruction in their States. The session to be held 
in the Hall of the House of Representatives, if it can 
be obtained, otherwise in the church on 4i street, kindly 
offered for that purpose by the Rev. Mr. McLain. 

2. Resolved, That a Committee of three members 
be appointed to make an appeal in behalf of the Na- 
tional Convention of the Friends of Education, now in 
session in Washington, to the People of the United 
States, in relation to the vital importance to the Repub- 
lic of a more general diffusion of popular Education. 

3. Resolved, That the" Convention recommend to the 
Friends of Education in the several States of the Union, 
the holding of State Conventions, or the formation of 
Education Societies, with branches over the States, for 
the purpose of exciting a more general attention to the 



8 

importance of universal education, and to improvements 
in existing systems or institutions for public instruc- 
tion. 

4. Resolved, That it is expedient to raise funds from 
the friends of public Education, for the purpose of em- 
ploying an agent for one year to collect information 
upon the subject of public instruction in our Country, 
to visit the Legislatures of the several States, when in 
session, and, in general, to awaken public attention to 
this important subject; and, also, to make such publi- 
cations as may be calculated to promote the cause of 
public instruction. 

5. Resolved, That in furtherance of the objects con- 
templated by the foregoing resolution, a collection be 
taken up at the evening meeting to be held in Wash- 
ington, and that a Committee of two members of this 
Convention be appointed to take charge of making the 
collection during the sitting of the Convention here, 
and also a Committee of , to make similar col- 
lections in other cities of the Union, either personally or 
by correspondence. 

6. Resolved, That an Executive Committee of five 
be appointed, with authority, on obtaining a sufficient 
sum, to appoint an agent, and assign his duties, and to 
publish and distribute suitable original or selected arti- 
cles in relation to Education, and that this Executive 
Committee be authorized to appoint a Treasurer, to take 
charge of the funds so collected. 

And whereas the importance of Schools for the Edu- 
cation of Teachers is constantly increasing with the 
increased demands for public instruction in the United 
States ; therefore, 



7. Resolved, That a Committee of three members of 
this Convention, of whom the President of the Con- 
vention shall be Chairman, be appointed to prepare for 
the next general meeting of the Friends of Education, 
a report on the organization of Seminaries for Common 
School Teachers in Europe and the United States, and 
the results already obtained from them. 

The same Committee reported the following Resolu- 
tions, which, after discussion, were referred again to the 
Committee that reported them, viz : 

8. Resolved, That it is expedient to hold a Conven- 
tion of Delegates from Lyceums, Literary Institutions, 
bodies connected with public instruction, or meetings 
of the Friends of Education in the United States, at 
Philadelphia, on the second Monday of May next. 

9. Resolved, That a Committee of five members be 
appointed, of which the President of the Convention 
shall be Chairman, to make suitable arrangements for 
holding the General Convention of the Friends of Edu- 
cation proposed in the foregoing Resolution. 

On motion of Francis S. Key, Esq.: 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the members 
of the Convention to collect from the Teachers of 
Schools and the friends of popular Education in their 
respective neighborhoods, such funds as they may be 
willing to contribute to the objects stated in the 3d and 
4lh Resolutions, and remit the same to the Treasurer 
to be appointed by the Executive Committee. 

The Committee to whom was referred the memorial 
to Congress, which was yesterday laid before the Con- 
vention, report, that finding in said memorial matters of 
detail which they do not think come within the pro- 
2 



10 

viiice of the Convention, they lecoinniend no special 
action thereon. 

Which report was unanimously adopted by the Con- 
vention. 

The Committee appointed under the second Resolu- 
tion consists of President A. D. Bache, Rev. Mr. Dur- 
bin, and Rev. S. Chopin. 

On motion, 

Resolved, That when the Convention adjourns, it 
adjourns to meet at this Hall to-morrow afternoon, at 
four o'clock. 

The Conveniion then adjourned. 



Washington, May 8, 1840. 

At four o'clock, P. M., the Convention met in ac- 
cordance with adjournment. 

The following gentlemen attended, as members of the 
Convention, in addition to those whose names have been 
previously registered, viz : 

Dr. Charles Douglass, > rjrr -, • 

T , Til I 1 ? yVcislun^ton. 

.John McLeod, 5 

C. Newell, President of Teachers^ Institute, Md. 

On motion, the Committee under the fifth Resolu- 
tion, adopted yesterday, was increased to three mem- 
bers. 

The chair then named Francis S- Key, Benjamin 
Hallowell, and Dr. Thomas Sewall, to constitute said 
Committee. 

The Committee appointed on the subject, produced 
an address to the People of the United States in rela- 



11 

tion to tiie vital importance to the Republic of a more 
general diffusion of popular Education, vviiich was 
adopted. 

On motion of President A. D. Bache: 
Ordered, That the Executive Committee be directed 
lo report to the next annual meeting of the National 
Convention of the Friends of Education. 
On motion of FrapvCIS S. Key. Esq.: 
R.'solvpd, That the Address of the Convention be 
published in the newspapers of this Citv, and that the 
publishers of other papers throughout the United States, 
friendly to the cause of popular Education, be request- 
ed to copy the same. 

On motion of President A. D. Bache : 
Resolved, That the Thanks of this Convention be 
presented to the Major and City Authorities of Wash- 
ington, for the Hall kindly furnished for the accommo- 
dation of the Convention. 

On motion of Benjamin Hallowell: 
Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to make 
inquiry concerning the operations and practicability of 
the Manual Labour School System in our country, 
and report thereon at the next annual meeting of the 
National Convention of the Friends of Education. 

On motion, then adjourned to meet in the Hall of the 
House of Representatives to-morrow evening, at eight 
o'clock. 



The Committee to whom was referred the prepara- 
tion of an appeal to the People of the United States in 



12 

favour of Universal Education, beg leave respectfully to 

report the following. 

A. D. Bache, ^ 

J. P. DuRBiN, > Commillee. 

S. Chapin, j 

Washington, May 8, ] 840. 

Fellow-Citizens of the United States: 

The National Convention of the Friends of Edu- 
cation in the United States desire to submit to you a 
brief statement of their views of the importance of the 
cause, the interests of which they have met to promote, 
and of the means by ivhicfi they hope to aid its progress. 
The institutions of our country have for their basis 
the virtue and intelligence of the people. If the peo- 
ple be wanting in morals, or unenlightened, the essen- 
tial condition of our existence as a republic is not ful- 
filled, and the consequence is inevitable. The moral 
and intellectual education of the children of the repub- 
lic is requisite to the formation of virtuous and intelli- 
gent citizens, and hence indispensable to the existence 
of a republic. The history of the commonwealths of 
ancient and modern times teaches plainly the important 
lesson that the decline of public morals has been ac- 
companied by a corresponding decay of republican 
institutions. It is in vain to look for any particular 
defects in their various organizations to explain their 
downfall ; in all the systems, the citizens have assumed 
in a greater or less degree to be capable of self-govern- 
ment ; and when this ceased to be the fact, the destruc- 
tion of their institutions was heard. In countries where 
the sovereignty is confined to one, or to a (ew, education 
may be a luxury to the many, but where the people is 



13 

sovereign it is a necessity. The Constitution of the 
Republic of Vaud places, as first of its fundamental 
articles, the equality of every citizen in the eye of the 
law, and deduces, as a consequence, that his duty to the 
State requires him to be educated. Some of the mon- 
archies of the old world present the curious spectacle of 
the general education of the people. This is wisely 
done ; for the authorities may well prefer to direct and 
control the bent of the mind in the progress of its devel- 
opment, rather than to leave it uncultivated to its own 
impulses, or to action upon it without. And shall the 
sovereign here, the People, be less wise, less careful in 
preserving the palladium of liberty committed to them 
by their fathers, and in providing for its preservation by 
their children ? In our country, the people are directly 
interested in education, if they would duly exercise 
their rights as citizens, and preserve themselves from 
the worst of tyranny — that over the mind. They are 
directly interested in the universal diffusion of the means 
o^ physical education, by which health is secured: of 
moral and religious education, by which the passions 
and propensities are regulated and controlled, the affec- 
tions cultivated, the happiness of the individual here 
and hereafter, and the well-being of society essentially 
promoted : of intellectual education by which the whole 
mind is cultivated, the forms of perception and reason 
expanded, the memory and judgment improved, and in- 
dividual independence of thought secured. The best 
inheritance of a parent, in any situation of life, to his 
child, is a good education ; and to secure this to him 
many a poor man toils, and is rewarded in the return of 
affection which he receives, and in the delight of wit- 



14 

nessiiig the success in life of the child to whom he had 
furnished the menus and instrument of that success in 
his education. 

To a considerable portion of our fellow-citizens, 
these remarks, no doubt, appear trite : they need no 
urging to establish public schools, and to spread instruc- 
tion throughout the sphere of their influence. Would 
that there was no citizen of the Union living in a prac- 
tical disregard of the importance of education ! It 
still continues to be a melancholy fact, that the propor- 
tion of children in the republic of the United States, 
fully receiving instruction, falls short of that in many 
despotisms of the old world. What a spectacle is thus 
presented, of a soil susceptible of high cultivation, and 
of producing a rich harvest of usefulness, abandoned 
to the growth of noxious weeds, to yield, it may be, 
hereafter, a bitter crop of individual debasement, social 
disorganization, and political anarchy. While we thus 
neglect the means by which our individual and national 
liberties are to be perpetuated, we directly impede the 
progress of liberal institutions throughout the world: 
the sacred fire left in our charge will not long blaze a 
beacon light to other nations, but by our neglecting to 
supply it with the materials essential to its support, must 
burn more and more dimly, and finally expire. In some 
parts of the United States common schools are not at 
all provided by law, and even the most ordinary means 
of instruction are not accessible to the children of the 
citizens ; in others, legislative enactments have provi- 
ded common schools, but the instruction given in them 
is inadequate; in a few only is the onward and efficient 
movement, characteristic of our country, found to apply 



15 

to the cause of education. It would be easy to show, 
from facts not to be contested, that the progress of our 
nation in wealth would be more sure, less limited to 
particular portions of the community and particular 
sections of the country, were education more t^enerally 
diffused throughout the land ; for the law is universal, 
that in proportion as the morals and intelligence of a 
people are more cultivated, the rewards of enterprise, 
energy, and industry, are the more sure. To the 
people of the United States, then, concerned in provi- 
ding for their children the means of education, to train 
them up as virtuous, enlightened, and free citizens, the 
Convention would earnestly appeal, believing that they 
have only to will it, that our country may become an 
example to nations, of the appreciation in which free- 
men hold the blessings of education. 

The Convention are aware, that in the course of this 
appeal to their fellow-citizens, they have assumed the 
existence of wants which the people in various sec- 
tions of the United States may not feel ; that the gen- 
eral impressions which influence their minds may not 
be transferable to others. They have therefore under- 
taken to collect statistics from various parts of the 
Union, to prove by numbers, the existence of these defi- 
ciencies, and that so plainly as to put it beyond cavil or 
dispute. They intend to use every effort to raise funds 
for the employment of an agent to collect statistics on 
the state of education, and to diffuse this and other in- 
formation in addresses and through the press. In this 
effort they trust that they will receive the support and 
co-operation of those who, having light, wish that the 
same may shine upon others ; who, having means, will 



16 

freelj dispense them in so good a cause. By this mea- 
sure, by circulating the addresses of the members of 
the delegations in Congress, who have favoured them 
with statements relating to education in their several 
States, by the appointment of Committees to collect 
information on specific subjects, and by providing for 
holding future Conventions, at which this information 
maybe received and widely circulated, the Convention 
at Washington hope that their meeting may have ad- 
vanced the noble cause in which they are engaged. 

In those portions of our country where common 
schools are in existence, and public attention has been 
turned for some time to their results, the want of 
teachers of a high character is strongly felt. To direct 
the mind of one who is to become the citizen of a 
republic, needs very considerable capacity and know- 
ledge. The teacher himself must be taught and trained, 
before he is fit to teach and train others ; and one of the 
methods which has been resorted to for accomplishing 
this, is by the establishment of schools for teachers. 
Information is wanted in regard to the organization and 
results of this class of schools, and the Convention have 
taken steps to procure it, and to diffuse it extensively 
among their fellow-citizens. 

Such are the provisions made for future action, the 
success of which must depend upon the response made 
to their appeal by the Convention to their fellow-citi- 
zens. 

In conclusion, the Convention commend the cause 
in which they have been engaged to the foundation of 
all light, the benevolent disposer of all hearts. 



17 

Saturday Evening, Almj 9, 1840. 

Accoidiiig to the previous adjouriinient, the Conven- 
tion assembled in the Hall of Representatives, at the 
Capitol, at eight o'clock, at which a considerable con- 
course of strangers and citizens were present, and who 
manifested a deep interest in the proceedings of the 
evening. 

The meeting was called to order by the President of 
the Convention, Doctor A. D. Bache, who opened the 
services by an appropriate address, in which he pointed 
out the objects of the Convention, and introduced the 
speakers from the different States. 

The following contains a brief outline of the differ- 
ent addresses, as reported by Mr. Brooks for the New- 
York Evening Express. 

NEW-YORK. 

Mr. Fillmore, of New-York, having first been called 
upon as one of the Representatives of the Empire State, 
addressed the Convention. The remarks of Mr. Fill- 
more were mainly statistical. We have, said he, in 
New- York, one University, four Colleges, many Aca- 
demies, and ten thousand Common Schools. In New- 
York, as early as 1 795, ^50,000 was appropriated for 
five years. This appropriation never fulfilled the pur- 
poses designed. The next movement made, in behalf 
of Schools, was in 1805, when 500,000 acres of land, 
or the sales from this domain, were appropriated for 
the benefit of Common Schools. No distribution took 
place, under this law, until 1814. In 1812, the first 
law was passed which established Common Schools; 
Superintendents were appointed. Committees, E'xami- 
ners, &c., &c. 
3 



18 

In 1820, the number of scholars taught was 325,000 ; 
in 1830, 409,000; in 1835, 540,000; in 1839, 557,259. 
In 1815, there were but a fraction over 2,000 schools; 
now there are more than 10,000. 

Mr. FiHmore also spoke of the policy of the 800 
townships in New-York, which policy was, to make a 
partial provision for Common Schools, and to require 
a tax, or voluntary contributions, or similar provisions 
for the remaining necessary support. The system in 
the fifty wards of the several cities was different. The 
best policy, in the opinion of those who had charge of 
the subject, was to make no greater appropriation than 
would stimulate private enterprise. Mr. Fillmore, in 
continuing his statistics, remarked that the State paid 
about one-fourth of the expense. The education of 
each child was 03 20 paid to teachers. The wages of 
teachers varied, as stated in an Annual Report, from 
^11 a month to ^^16, between the years 1831 and 
1837. 

Mr. Fillmore stated, that since the establishment of 
Free Schools in his own city, Buffalo, double the num- 
ber of scholars had been taught, at half the expense 
for the number taught. Mr. Fillmore closed with some 
general remarks of an interesting character. 

KENTUCKY. 

Mr. Underwood, of Kentucky, followed Mr. Fill- 
more. Mr. Underwood said that he heartily approved 
of the object of the meeting. The morals of the coun- 
try depended upon the education of the children, and 
the object of the Convention was, or should be, dear 
to every patriot. 

Mr. Underwood said that he had not the documen- 



19 



tary evidence before him in regard to Education in his 
own Slate, and must therefore speak from recollection. 
His own State, or many sections of it, was too much in 
the log cabin condition to be much advanced in com- 
mon school education. Mr. Underwood spoke of the 
Colleges of his State, which were some half dozen in 
number, and of the County Seminaries, which were 
the next class of institutions. Common Schools were 
recently established, and in school districts under the 
guardianship of county officers, who appointed com- 
missioners, and who collected the means of paying the 
teachers. Mr. Underwood said that Kentucky intended 
to provide means to those school districts, as in the 
State of New-York. Property was taxed by an 
ad valorem process, and each district was allowed to 
make a tax, according to the value of property, for the 
support of schools. Mr. Underwood stated briefly the 
several provisions of the laws of Kentucky touching 
the common schools of that State. 

NORTH-CAROLINA. 
Mr. Stanly, of North-Carolina, responded for North- 
Carolina. He said that the school fund of North-Car- 
olina exceeded $ 1 ,000,000 ; that it was invested in bank 
stock, in rail-road stock, and in public works, which 
yielded the amount named. He regretted to state, 
however, that North-Carolina was not where she 
should be, and he hoped, upon another occasion, to be 
able to state better things for his State than he could 
now state. The emigration from North-Carolina was 
large, and the State suffered from it; besides, there 
were too many bachelors at home, and bachelors were 
not friends to the cause of common school education. 



20 

OHIO. 
Mr. GooDE, of Ohio, member of the House, gave an 
interesting account of the Schools, Academies, and Col- 
leges, in Ohio. There were Colleges there, and Aca- 
demies, Primary and Common Schools. Every six- 
teenth section of land, under an ordinance in regard to 
public lands, was appropriated for Common Schools. 
This afforded considerable aid, and, with the school 
tax, made a handsome fund. The children in Ohio 
were very numerous, and the Common School system 
there was in a flourishing condition, and never so promi- 
sing as now. Mr. Goode spoke also on the strict sys- 
tem adopted in Ohio in regard to the examination of 
teachers by School Committees. The New-England 
system appears to have been adopted. 

NEW-JERSEY. 
Mr. Randolph responded for New- Jersey. He 
commenced by quoting the remark of Judge Reed, of 
Connecticut, ''that during a very extensive practice, 
he had never seen a son of Connecticut that could not 
read and write." He could not now say as much of 
New-Jersey, but he hoped the time was not far distant 
when he might. The State of New-Jersey, Mr. Ran- 
dolph said, was well provided with High Schools and 
Colleges. She made some provision for Common 
Schools. Twenty thousand dollars was appropriated 
among the several Counties, and the Counties them- 
selves were allowed to make what extra provision 
they thought proper. Mr. Randolph said his State 
suffered much from the want of Common Schools, and 
school teachers of common sense. Teachers were not 
as well qualified as they should be, &c. There was 



21 

reason to believe that the character of the Common 
Scliools would improve when teachers were better paid, 
and held their proper rank in society. 

MARYLAND. 

Mr. Wm. Cost Johnson said he should occupy the 
time of the Convention but for a moment, and he re- 
gretted it was but for a moment. He regretted to state 
that in Maryland no annual reports were made, and 
that there was no record sent to the Legislature, and 
consequently no means of official information. The 
State appropriated ^100,000 to the several Counties 
annually, for public schools. This fund was raised 
from bank taxes, trust funds, corporation taxes, &c. 
The amount for which the people were taxed was 
small. Superadded to this, ;^20,000 were appropriated 
to Colleges and Academies. The College or Academy 
educated gratuitously one scholar for every ^100 ap- 
propriated. Mr. Johnson said that the State of Mary- 
land had done much, but had much to do. A new 
interest had been awakened in Common Schools re- 
cently, and Maryland, unlike North-Carolina, had 
many friends of education even in her bachelor popu- 
lation. The ladies of Maryland, too, smiled upon the 
cause of education, and did great good by their smiles 
and encouragement. 

Mr. Stanly interrupted Mr. Johnson, and remarked 
that the ladies of North-Carolina also smiled upon 
education, and " upon bachelors too," he added. [Mr. 
Johnson is almost a hopeless bachelor, I learn ; and the 
allusion was, therefore, very appropriate.] 

Mr. Johnson continued his remarks, and closed with a 
strong appeal in behalf of the objects of the Convention. 



22 

MAINE. 

Robert Hallowell Gardiner, Esq., of Maine, 
gave, brieflj, the School system of his State. There 
was a bank tax which amounted to over ^30.000 per 
annum, and a land tax which increased the fund to an 
extent which enabled every one between the ages of 
four and twenty-one to attend school during the whole 
or a part of the year. Every inhabitant was taxed 
forty cents for the support of Common Schools. Mr. 
Gardiner gave a good account of the Common Schools 
of Maine, but a poor account of the Colleges of Maine. 
Some of the people of Maine, in the spreading spirit 
of radicalism, regarded Colleges as aristocratic institu- 
tions. The feeling was so extensive, that the State had 
withdrawn its aid from the two Colleges of the State. 
One in consequence was gasping, and the other suf- 
fering. 

ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 

Mr. GuRNEY, of England, who was present, was 
called upon by the President of the Convention. The 
education of Great Britain was almost altogether vo- 
untary. Something was done in England, and less in 
Ireland. Mr. Gurney spoke of the influence of Lord 
Brougham, and liis attempts to establish a national sys- 
tem of education. The State Religion was a serious 
obstacle to this system, but he hoped it would be re- 
moved, and a more extensive system be adopted. Mr. 
Gurney also commented upon some impressions he 
had received in travelling through this country. The 
local and voluntary efforts to increase knowledge among 
men delighted him much. He was pleased also with 
the School Fund System, and with almost every thing 



23 

he had seen and heard since he set foot upon our shores. 
Mr. Gurnej spoke briefly, and in a manner that elicited 
the close attention of the Convention. The reader will 
be interested in Mr. Gurney, from the fact that he is a 
brother of Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, an interesting and 
talented authoress. 

After some appropriate remarks in conclusion, and 
in behalf of the Convention, and contribution to aid in 
procuring a fund for a National Agent, the President 
adjourned the meeting, to meet again in Philadelphia, 
in May, 1841. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 503 291 7 



